I really like Bob Cesca. He's usually spot on with his viewpoints and he may be this time....because what he writes makes a lot of sense to me. I'm a Progressive at heart more than I'm a Democrat...and if the president is smart like a fox while the rest of us are bellyaching because he didn't fight enough or didn't tell the Repubs to go fuck themselves...well, I'm a big girl. I can take a deep breath and give my initial reactions another visit....

Keep talking, Bob Cesca..maybe you'll cut through all the disappointment and feelings of betrayal I have about the president right now:

This afternoon, Markos Moulitsas wrote an offhanded comment on Daily Kos that seems completely in line with the recent upswing in progressive apoplexy. Referencing a post by Duncan Black about the president's tax cut deal, Markos wrote, "Tax cuts don't create jobs. It's really obnoxious hearing Democrats like Obama trying to make that argument."

Right off the bat, and not to go all Aaron Sorkin nitpicky on Markos, but it's President Obama. Come on. Is it seriously that difficult to type the word "president?" And while I agree with the first part, I'm not sure what Markos is talking about in the second part. The president has never once suggested that tax cuts create jobs.

In fact, he said exactly the opposite as recently as Dec. 10 on NPR. From ThinkProgress:

And in an interview on NPR this morning with Morning Edition host Steve Inkseep, President Obama reflected this point of view, agreeing that the tax cuts for the wealthy will not create "one single job":

INSKEEP: Let me ask you about something that we heard from one of our listeners... The question that we got was: "Please ask him how keeping the tax rate for the richest the same as it has been for a decade creates one single job." OBAMA: It doesn't, which is why I was opposed to it -- and I'm still opposed to it.

Here's the audio. (at the link)

"It doesn't" create jobs, the president said. No gray area there. The exact opposite of what's being claimed by Markos and other progressives.

Concurrently, the president has obviously been ballyhooing his tax-cut compromise with the Republicans, while commenting that the deal will create jobs -- not the tax cuts part of the deal, specifically, but the overall deal. And he's right. If the CBO numbers indicating $1.61 in stimulus for every dollar spent on unemployment benefits are correct, then extending the benefits will create jobs as the economy grows.